Lovely character aesthetics by Purrr121.

Let's get into the story shall we ;p

***
"He's gaining on us!"

I smacked the back of the driver's seat , urging him to go faster.

"Debbie stop playing stupid games." Raymond rolled his eyes at me, typing quickly on his phone.

I had just spent the entire car ride pretending that the vehicle at our rear was chasing us.

"Fine," I grumbled, sitting back down and crossing my hands disdainfully. For some reason my nerves were on overdrive and I looked for various ways to calm myself.

The car that had been behind us was now by our side, the driver rolling down his window to flip me the bird while driving past us. I stuck my tongue at him as he sped off.

"Are we there yet?" I asked Raymond, mindlessly playing with the seatbelt. He gently removed my hands and I brought them to my mouth, gnawing on my fingernails.

Why am I so nervous?

He removed my hands from my mouth and patted them.

"Relax Debs."

"We're here!" I jumped at the Uber drivers sudden outburst.

After paying, Raymond left the car and quickly ran to my side of the door, opening it for me. Guess chivalry isn't dead after all.

"My lady." I laughed at his antiques. Playing along I took his hand and rose majestically.

"Why thank you kind sir." I bowed slightly, my hands felt warm in his, which eased my nerves.

"Race you to the entrance?"

"Wha-" Before he could properly reply I ran to the arcade entrance. "Hey that's cheating!" he yelled after me.

I felt him gain speed which only pushed me to run faster, my feet slapped on the pavement and I was already exhausted from soccer tryouts, but I pushed regardless.

I could literally smell the victory, the pleasurable noise of loud laughter traveling to my ear, when I was suddenly lifted off my feet. "Hey that's not fair," I called out, hitting his back to let me down.

Once we finally got there he let me down and I punched him on the shoulder. "Cheater."

"You cheated first." He pointed out. I just stuck my tongue at him as we walked to the person in charge of giving us coins.

"How can I help you today?" I was about to respond but he interrupted me. "We have three buckets of coins: the beginners bucket, the intermediate bucket and the advanced bucket."

I looked at him confusedly. "What's the difference?"

"The amount of coins and the price."

I turned to Raymond. "Which one should we get?"

"Advanced, I'm going all in." He moved to retrieve his wallet but I stopped him.

"Since you already paid for the Uber don't you think I should pay for the coins?"

"It's your celebration," he explained. "Therefore I treat you to anything you want."

"Sounds fair." I let him pay for the coins and carried the big bucket, it was surprisingly heavy so I had to heave it with both hands.

"Here, lemme help." He tried to carry it from me but I nudged his hand off with my elbow.

"Let me at least do something on this date."

He smirked at that, wriggling his eyebrows coyly, "Thought you said it wasn't a date."

"Whatever." I shrugged him off, focusing all my energy in lifting the heavy bucket.

"Which game should we play first?" I had to yell in his ear, the noise surrounding the arcade made it impossible to speak normally.

The place was full with kids running around looking for the next game to play. The teenagers sat at the lounge towards the right corner, typing on their phones and looking very unbothered by the scenery. And the adults looked very frustrated, running after the kids and yelling for them to calm down.

Maybe the arcade wasn't the best place to go.

The smell of sugary sweetness hung in the air and my nose traced the fragrance to its source: different machines producing a variety of candy floss, popcorn and ice cream.

"Let's eat first," I suggested, the savoury odor luring me towards the popcorn machine.

"We just had lunch," Raymond cut in, pulling me to the racing section. "Let's race."

The thought of beating him distracted me from the food source, my competitive side ignited.

"You're on!" I hoped on the arcade bike, hands already on the throttle as he inserted two coins into the machine. Getting on his own bike, he sent me an innocent smile before starting the game.

"You don't play fair." We had already played some other arcade games and were now sitting in the lounge eating popcorn. I threw some of said popcorn at him.

"How?" he chuckled out, dusting it off him. "And you're wasting good food."

The bucket of coins sat on the floor beside me, half its content eaten by various gaming machines.

"Well for one you ride a freaking bike so of course you'd win the racing game," I cried out. He won most of the games we played, the tickets he had received laying casually on the table. The urge to snag them was prominent but instead I counted the tickets I had.

Seventy three.

"How many tickets do you have?" I asked.

He didn't even check them before answering. "One hundred and thirty five." He shrugged as though it was nothing, but the small smirk on his lips said otherwise.

"Hey." A little girl tapped my shoulder, her hands jumbled at her mouth so it was hard the hear her speak at first.

"Can I please have some coins? My friends used all of mine." She pointed at a group of little kids. They looked sad as they sat on the floor, counting the tickets they'd won.

I turned back to see her puppy dog eyes and I just couldn't say no. "Sure kid you can have them all."

"What?!" Raymond's eyes bugged out of his skull. "You're gonna give her all our coins?"

I nodded, patting her softly on the head. She looked up with the cutest smile I had ever seen and placed two coins in my hand. Happily, she skipped over to her friends, who were now at the bumper cars section, begging the instructor to let them in without coins.

"Alright game boy." I turned to him, playing with the coins in my hands. "I bet I can beat you in one more game."

He placed his elbows on the table, right eyebrow arched as he planted his head on his laced hands. "Alright loser you're on."

I grunted at his nickname, scanning the arcade for a game to play, once my eyes landed on those basketball game machines I turned back to him with a coy smile.

"If I win that game," I started, pointing at the game I was referring to. "Then you have to teach me how to ride your bike."

His eyes connected to where my finger were directed, a devious smile on his face before he looked back at me.

"Okay but if I win." He pointed to himself. "I get a kiss."

My eyes widened at that. "No no no."

"What's that I hear?" He placed his hand on his ear, shifting closer to me. "Sounds like a chicken."

No one calls me a chicken.

"Fine," I said irritatedly. "It's a deal."

I was so going to regret this.

We shook hands to seal our agreement and headed to the basketball arena. The goal of the game was to get as many balls into the net as possible within time frame.

Once the time started I hastily took the ball and aimed at the basket. Three minutes in and I was leading the game by ten points. Raymond seemed determined but my willpower was stronger.

Or so I thought it was.

One minute left and Raymond started gaining points, now only five points away from me. I glanced at him to see the concentration in his face, eyes focused as he positioned his arm in a ninety degree angle.

My heart beat accelerated at the thought of losing, so I moved faster, my movements careless and poorly thought out.

Ten seconds left.

Less and less of my balls were entering the hoop, my arms starting to ache from frustration. Raymond sent me an indiscreet smile as he was gaining more points.

Three seconds.

He was only one point behind me now.

Two seconds.

We were neck to neck, both at fifty nine points. My frustration quickened as we both sent our last ball into to the hoop.

One second.

Raymond's ball entered while mine was still dancing around the edges, building up the tension as I clipped harshly on the edge of the machine.

Go in. Please go in. I begged the ball silently. As though teasing me, it dipped slightly then came back to it's meander around the rim.

Raymond stood beside me as we both watched the ball, waiting for it to either signify Raymond's win, or null the deal forever.

A kid knocked onto the game machine forcing the ball to make it's decision.

It went out.

"No!" I screamed the same time Raymond bellowed, "Yes!" He pumped the air with his fist.

I turned to run but he grabbed me faster than my feet could leave the ground. "Where do you think you're going?"

I felt the atmosphere thicken as the space between us diminished. He was so close that I could feel his hot breath on my skin, the fragrance of his cologne intoxicating me once more.

His lips looked inviting, and when his eyes fell on my own lips he licked his.

Damn.

Stop before you do something you regret, I repeated to myself. It felt like we were the only two people there, everyone else suddenly disappearing. The heavy thump of my heart against my chest vibrated all over my body. When I thought I was going to pull back I did the worst thing possible.

I looked into his eyes.

His once forest green orbs were fifty shades darker, swirling with so much emotion that I could hardly pinpoint one. I felt them drawing me in and unconsciously I leant even closer.

His nose touched the side of my cheek as he titled his head slightly, eyes looking at mine for confirmation.

I didn't respond. I felt trapped. Frozen. But I didn't move. And that action alone was enough to push him forward.

It was only when his lips grazed the side of mine that my brain quickly jump started and I did the first thing I could think of.

I slapped him.

***

Another chappie for my lovely readers :)

I'm so sorry for not updating sooner! I was so caught up in watching The Kissing Booth 2!! Oh my days a part 3 definitely has to come out!!!

Anyways back to the chapter, what did you guys think of their date? Let me know in the comments ;)

If you like arcade games, then don't forget to press that star button :D

Read, vote, comment and enjoy!!!